Feds Charge Man After North Las Vegas Police Find over Seven Kilos of Methamphetamine in His Car

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 23, 2010

Las Vegas, Nev. – Federal drug charges have been filed against a southern California man after North Las Vegas Police Officers found a suitcase containing over seven kilograms of methamphetamine in the trunk of the rented car he was driving, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada.

Juan Enrique Ramos-Garcia, 33, of Chino Hills, California, is charged with possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. If convicted, he faces at least 10 years in prison and a $4,000,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaint, on Sunday, June 20, 2010, at approximately 10:30 a.m., a North Las Vegas Police Department officer pulled over a white Toyota vehicle for an unsafe lane change near the intersection of Craig Road and Clayton Street. The driver, Ramos-Garcia, advised the officer that the vehicle had been rented, and that he was visiting Las Vegas and had been following another vehicle to a friend's house. Ramos-Garcia was issued a citation, and asked if there was any contraband inside the Toyota. Ramos-Garcia told the officer there was not, and then granted the officer permission to search the vehicle. The officer deployed a narcotics dog, which alerted to an odor emanating from a black suitcase in the trunk of the vehicle. Upon opening the suitcase, the officer found a plastic bag containing 15 bundles of methamphetamine with a total weight of approximately 7.2 kilograms. Ramos-Garcia was arrested at the scene. He appeared before a federal magistrate judge on Tuesday, June 22, 2010, and was detained pending trial.

The case is being investigated by the DEA and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amber Craig.

The public is reminded that a criminal complaint contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.